


our moment

by lilabut



Series: illuminate the heart [6]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 01:51:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12025584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilabut/pseuds/lilabut
Summary: A quiet moment with their little baby girl.





	our moment

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't planning on writing another addition to this universe until next month, but I was asked to write something happy, and nothing makes me happier than this universe. It just seemed right.

_She's so little,_ Daryl whispers, running his hand over their daughter's knuckles. Short, delicate fingers forming a tiny fist.

 

She _is_ small. Looks frail and breakable. Much smaller than Sophia and Jack had been. But she's healthy. Quiet but restless most days, hungry like a lion.

 

Just shy of a week old.

 

Cradled against Daryl's chest, she sleeps safe and sound, a tuft of dark blonde hair on her small head that's incredibly soft to the touch.

 

Daryl supports her with one arm, the other curled around Carol where she leans into him. Tucked comfortably into the couch, rain drumming against the windows.

 

_Could look at her all day,_ Daryl admits, just a soft whisper that's bursting with love and adoration. His features are soft, all worries wiped away. There's an ease to him that doesn't come easily most days, even now.

 

Carol smiles softly, pressing her lips against his bare shoulder, the skin there sun-kissed and warm. _Me too,_ she breathes, following their daughter's full, rosy cheek with the tip of her finger ever so slightly.

 

She feels warm and softer than anything else in the world.

 

They've done this before, experienced it before. But still it's all brand new, a first time all over again. They cherish every moment of it.

 

Sophia and Jack are fast asleep upstairs, knocked out cold by the still fresh excitement over their new baby sister. Seeing all three of them together earlier, cuddled up on the big throw blanket on the living room floor, had been an overwhelming sight, filling both their hearts beyond capacity.

 

Neither of them can truly believe any of this is real, that they were given the chance to be so happy and their lives so full of joy.

 

It's more than either of them ever dared to dream of.

 

Elsa yawns then, making a little squeaky sound and shaking her furry head, the metal on her collar cluttering in the quiet room. She's curled up on the couch next to Carol, nose nuzzling into her thigh, still a little confused by the pink, squirmy addition to the family.

 

_Ya wanna head to bed?_ Daryl asks, pressing his lips to the crown of Carol's head. Auburn curls have been pulled into a loose ponytail, and a few stray strands lightly tickle his chin.

 

_No,_ Carol whispers, leaning into his touch with a content sigh. _Not yet._

 

She's tired enough to fall asleep right here on the sofa with Daryl's arm around her. But she's unwilling to waste even a single moment like this, ever haunted by the fear that it will be taken away from her or might shatter like glass.

 

So she drinks it all in. Every smile and squeak and even the late night screams.

 

Each is a puzzle piece that she treasures. A piece of a whole that's nothing but everything she could ask for.

 

_All right,_ Daryl whispers, smiling down at the sleeping baby in his arms and the woman he loves with all his heart. Maybe this was never meant to be his life, but he's never giving it up. Ever.


End file.
